Police Chief Thomas Jackson fields questions related to the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown during a press conference on Aug. 13, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo.

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Ferguson, Mo., Police Chief Thomas Jackson at a press conference early Friday morning released the name of the officer who was involved in the fatal shooting of unarmed teen Michael Brown. The officer has been identified as Darren Wilson. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that he is a six-year veteran of the force and doesn't have any blemishes on his record.

For days, the police chief had been adamant about protecting the identity of the police officer involved in the shooting, claiming that the department had received death threats. The identity of the officer comes after days of protest and civil rights leaders urging that his name be made public.

The police chief also noted that Wilson was in the field attending to a sick person when another call came in about a strong-arm robbery. The police chief noted that Wilson left the sick person to respond to the robbery call when he encountered Brown, according to the Post-Dispatch.

It is unclear why the police chief noted the information about the robbery, since Michael Brown was not named as a suspect, and did not connect that information to the shooting death, the Post-Dispatch notes.

On Thursday Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced that he was handing the protest-policing reins over to Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald S. Johnson, an African American who was raised in Ferguson, Mo., and is vowing to take a different approach.

"It means a lot to me personally that we break this cycle of violence," Johnson told reporters at a news conference, the New York Daily News notes.

Ferguson has been widely criticized for its militarized police action in handling peaceful protests after Brown was fatally shot by Wilson on Saturday. Violent images showing clashes between police and protesters, officers in full riot gear carrying high-powered automatic weapons, and tear-gas smoke-filled nights have caused many to compare Ferguson to that of a war zone.

"What's gone on here over the last few days is not what Missouri's about, it's not what Ferguson's about," the governor said during his press conference, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. "[It's] a Missouri community, but lately it's looked a little bit more like a war zone, and that's unacceptable."

So now Johnson and his fellow state troopers have been asked to set a different tone from the one left by the Ferguson and St. Louis County police.

"I understand the anger and fear that the citizens of Ferguson are feeling, and our police officers will respect both of those," Johnson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

So far things are looking up. According to the Post-Dispatch, Johnson joined protesters during a peaceful march and engaged citizens in conversation. He also told a crowd of a reported 1,000 demonstrators who gathered Thursday night that "the gas masks are off. Won't come back."

On Thursday the Daily News noted that the ACLU has "filed a suit demanding that the St. Louis County police release the incident report of Saturday's shooting."

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who has been in Ferguson but has spent the majority of his time with Brown's family, has a rally planned for Sunday. According to the Daily News, he has asked that the Justice Department pay close attention to how the police are handling the aftermath of events.

"Even if we disagree, this climate is not good for anyone and is dangerous for everyone," Sharpton said in a statement viewed by the newspaper.

The Daily News notes that the Brown family has asked that the Justice Department monitor a second autopsy of Brown's body.